Firing mechanism for automatic quick-firing guns.



No. 662,256.; I Patented Nov. 20-, 1900. A. T. nnwson & L. srwanmm.

FIRING MECHANISM FUR AUTOMATIC QUICK FIRING GUNS.

(Application filed July 9, 1900.

(No Model.)

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-Nrrn Sterne FATE ARTHUR TREvoR DAWSON AND LOUIS SILVERMAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE VICKEBS, sons a MAXIM, LIMITED, or SAME PLACE.

FlRiNG: MECHANISM F052 AUTOMATIC. QUlCK-FIRENG GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,256, dated November 20, 1900, 1

Application filed July 9, 1900. Serial No. 23,013. (No modelf! To all whom it may concern.-

SON, late lieutenant of royal. navy, and Lows SILVERMAN, engineer, subjects of the Queen 5 of Great Britain, residing at 32 Victoria street,

Westminster, London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firing Mechanism for Automatic Quick-Firing Guns, of which the following is'a specifilo cation.

This invention relates to the firing mechanism of automatic andpther guns, and has for its object to provide such mechanism with means whereby the trigger or similar device employed for firing the /gun is so controlled that only single shots canbe fired-that is to say, the trigger-has to be pulled for each discharge. Preferably we also employ in ac nection with said controlling means a safe y contrivance which when desired can'be adjusted to render the gun incapable ofbeing fired by the trigger..

According to our invention we employ a pivoted or hinged catch having at one end a nose and at the other end a tail, the said catch being carried by a lever or similar device for actuatingthefiring-sear. Thenoseisadapted to engage with a shoulder or recess formed on or in a sliding bar constituting a portion 0 of the trigger mechanism, a spring being provided foncausing the said nose to normally occupy this position. The aforesaid tail of the catch lies adjacent to a cam-piece carried by some stationary part of the gun. This cam-piece occupies such a position relatively to the said tail that when the trigger is pulled to fire .the gun the said lever carrying the catch will be shifted and will bring the tail of the catch against the said cam-piece, so that as the trigger completes its movement on being pulled the catch will thereby be caused to turn about its pivot, and thus bring its nose out of engagement with the shoulder or recess of the trigger-bar. Prior to this disengageme'nt, however, the firing-sear becomes actuated by the said lever carrying the catch and fires the gun. Vhen the disengagement occurs,',the aforesaid spring immediately acts to return the saidllvq and catch to their origi- 5o nal position "ln1l with the nose of the catch with the class of gun to which our improved lying above and in advance of the shoulder or recess of the trigger. Therefore in order to again fire the gun it is necessary to release the trigger-and permit the same to return to its original position, so that the recess or e shoulderof the trigger will occupy a correct position for the reengagement of the said nose I therewith, this rengagement taking place under the action of the said spring. On again I pulling the trigger the gun will be discharged, as before explained.

The aforesaid cam-piece is preferably provided with a movable l'ug which can be caused to lie in the path of the said lever carrying the catch by operation of an external thumbpiece. When the lug is in this position, it acts to prevent the operation of the lever and catch and the pulling of the trigger. In other words, it keeps the mechanism in a safety position.

It will be understood that the construction and arrangement of the pivoted lever carrying the catch may be varied in accordance firing mechanism is to be applied.

In the accompanying'drawiugs, which show our improvements applied toa three-pounder automatic quick-firing gun, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing the position of the parts prior to the pulling of the trigger to fire the gun. Fig. 2 is a similar elevation showing the position of the parts when the trigger has been almost completely pulled, and Fig. 3 is another similar elevation showing the position of the parts when the trigger has been completely pulled and the gun fired. hig'. i-is a detail sectional plan of the campiece hereinafter more fully described.

A is the pivoted or hinge catch; B, the lever carr' ing the same; O,a lever forming part of the firing-sear; D,the sliding bar,forming part of. the trigger, and E the cam-piece. The aforesaid lever B is of bell-crank formation and is pivotally mounted within the guncasing at point bin such a manner that one of 95 its limbs normally lies in an approximately horizontal position nd the other in an approximately vertica position. The extremity of"the'horizo tal limb is provided with a lateral stub I), whQ projects through 10 a slot b and lies immediately above the free end of the lever O, which is mounted on the same axle as the firing-sear. Thesaid sear is of the ordinary well-known construction and is adapted to fire the gun when the free end of said lever G is fully depressed by the aforesaid stud b on the bell-crank lever B. The aforesaid catch A is pivoted at b to the lower end of the vertical member of the bellcrank lever and is formed at one end with the nose a and at the opposite end with the tail (1.

d is the shoulder or recess with which the sliding portion D of the trigger is formed and with which the said nose q bf the catch is normally kept in engage'me'rit by ,the spring a The aforesaid tri er is kept in its b forward positio,nthat isfio say the position in Fig. 2.

in which it is represented in Fig. lby a spring d.

Assuming the parts to be in "the position represented by Fig. 1, then when thetrigger is pulled to fire the gun the taiLa" of the catch A will at the proper time come against the stop-piece E and cause said catch to turn about its pivot b until the nose a'escapes from the shoulder or recess d, as represented During this movement the stu'db on the horizontal member of the bell-crank lever B has depressed the adjacent end of the lever O sufliciently to trip the firing-sear and fire the gun. As soon as the nose or has escaped from the shoulder or recess (1 the spring a (which has been previously stretched by the movement of the vertical member of the bell-crank lever) will react and pull the catch, as well as the bell-crank 'lever,intothep0sition represented in Fig. 3-

that is to say, the nose a of the catch will then lie in advance of the recess (1 of the trigger. In this position it will be obvious that the gun cannot again be fired until the trigger has been released and permitted to resume its normal position (represented in Figkl) under the action of the spring (1. As the saidtrigger resumes this position, the nose (1 rengages with the shoulder or recess 61 under the HCBIOILOf the spring W. The parts having resumed this position, the gun can again be fired by pulliugthe trigger.

I The cam-piece Eis carried by the pin e and is-provided vithan arm or thumb-piece e, which projects through the caseof the gun in aposition to be readily actuated. we isa stoplug with which the said arm or thumb-piece is furnished, such lug being 'so shaped that when the thumb-piece is turned into the position represented by the filklllines in Fig. 4

of the drawings it will lie immediately be-- hind the vertical member of the bell-crank lever B and prevent the latter from being moved and the trigger from being pulled, thereby locking the parts in the safety 7 position. By shifting said arm or thumb-piece e into the position represented by the dotted lines in Fig. 4 the said lug a can be removed from the path of the said vertical member of of the'trigger and adapted to transmit themovement of said catch to'the firing-sear, of a shoulder on the trigger adapted to engage with the said catch and of a cam-piece situated in the path of the catch and adapted to bebrought into engagement with said means to prevent the movement thereof substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

2. In firing mechanism forguns, the combination with the firing-sear, of a hinged catch, of a lever for transmitting the movement-of said catch to the firing-sear, of'a shoulder'on- -the trigger adapted to engage with a nose on the catch, of a spring tending to maintain this engagement, of a cam-piece situated in the path of a tail-on the catch and adapted to disengagethe nose from the shoulder as.

the trigger is pulled to fire the gun, and of a spring for returning the said trigger to its normal position when released substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In firing mechanism for guns, the combination with the firing-sear, of a hinged catch having at one end a nose and at the other end atail, of a bell-crank lever carrying at one end the said catch and at the other end a lateral ing for operating the scar, of asliding trigger having a shoulder for the nose of the catch to engage with, of a spring for returning the trigger to its normal position, of a spring tending to keep the nose of the said catch engaged with the shoulder of the said trigger, and of a cam-piece situated in the path of the tail of the catch and adapted to cooperate therewith for the purpose of disengaging the nose from the shoulderas the trigtoo ger is pulled substantially as and for the purated in the path of the tail of the catch, and

of means for preventing the trigger from being pulled substantially as described.

5. In firing mechanism for guns, the combination with the firing-sear of a spring-controlled hinged catch having at one end anose and at the other end a tail, of a bell-crank lever carrying at one eridthe said catch and at the other end a lateral lug for operating the sear, of a spring-controlled sliding trig"- ger formed with a shoulder for the said nose of the catch to engage with, of a cam-piece situated in the path of the tail of the catch,

- T AVW CUP}? -mnvhuniha, in pr-(eschew 0f twu subscribing situated in the path OLthe tail of the catch, 15 of npivumd 1m: carried byu-said cam-piece and uf'n thumb-piece projecting through the v I gun-caning for shifting-said lug substantially as and fur Hm purpose specified. i in testimony whereof we have hereunto set 20 

